America was concerned about the spread of communism and feared the Soviet Union would take advantage of the poverty in Eastern European countries that were still recovering from the effects of World War Two. There were also concerns that western countries such as France or Italy may turn to communism as they looked to recover from the war.
Harry Truman gave a notable speech in 1947 called the ‘Truman Doctrine’. In this speech, he pledged that America would do whatever they could to support European countries and stop the spread of communism, pledging $400 million to Greece and Turkey for economic and military aid.
